Kukla's Korner Hockey

News that Nathan Horton’s contract was used as a comparable by the Buffalo Sabres in working up a contract proposal for center Derek Roy borders on the amazing. Ultimately, Roy was given the same six-year, $24 million package Horton got.
Let’s see who turns out to have the better career. The betting here is it’s Horton.

Higgins underwent arthroscopic surgery on the shoulder in Colorado in late June, but already is in tremendous condition as he prepares for the season to come. The 24-year-old’s fitness is legendary, and this summer he’s making huge strides to regaining and building on his superior conditioning, working with Jon DiFlorio, his personal trainer at Institute 3E on Long Island.
I had long conversations with Higgins and DiFlorio this week, and heard again the passion and commitment Higgins brings to the game. He sees the season to come as a great opportunity for himself, and other young members of the club, to step up and take a leadership role. If his dedication to his fitness is any indication, he’ll live up to his end of the bargain.

Lou Lamoriello, who turned the New Jersey Devils into three-time Stanley Cup champions (1995, 2000, 2003), managed the Upper Cape all-stars in 1965, the first time the Cape League All-Star Game was held in Wareham….
“They were great years. Where else could you go play baseball, work for the town — we all had to work, even managing I worked,” he said. “Some were town jobs, some were laboring jobs.”
Born and raised in Providence, Lamoriello went to Providence College at the age of 16 and played in the Cape League for Orleans after his freshman, sophomore and junior years.

So is Burke right on the money, so to speak? Or is he getting his pound of flesh?
Gutless? Classless?
On a personal level, absolutely. On a professional level, all’s fair in love and war.
Grossly inflated salary?
The Oilers aren’t likely to be competitive if they don’t solve their scoring problems with goal scorers. And if Penner continues to improve, it might be fair value at some point. But today? No way.
Act of desperation?
An act of desperation by a general manager fighting to keep his job?
Sorry, Brian.

Former Detroit Red Wings defenceman Danny Markov is being seriously courted by Vityaz Chekhov of the Russian Superleague.
Both Sovsport and Vityaz Chekhov’s official website report that Vityaz’s GM, Alexei Zhamnov, has met with Markov, who is split as to whether he’ll continue his career in the NHL or return home:

None of the media outlets north of the border missed an opportunity this summer, slamming Gary Bettman….
The big complaint has been that the fractious billionaire, Jim Balsillie was unable to corral the Nashville Predators and high-jack the club to Hamilton, Ontario, giving Canada its seventh team. It’s the second NHL club purchase that Balsillie has botched.
For goodness sakes … he was selling season tickets in Hamilton already. How cheesy is that?

The Anaheim Ducks will conduct a conference call this afternoon with Brian Burke at 5:15 Pacific Time.
NOTE: The Ducks will not announce today whether or not they are matching the tendered offer to left wing Dustin Penner.

KK plans to be on the conference call and will provide updates immediately as they become available.
(Anyone want to guess what’s up? Burke doesn’t call out-of-the-blue press conferences for no reason…)

Note: Summation of the conference call, and the full official transcript, available below.

Believe it or not, Calgary Flames General Manager Darryl Sutter didn’t have what it took to get an NHL deal after he was done playing in junior. Sutter was an 11th-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1978 draft, which really meant that Sutter had very little chance of ever donning a Blackhawks uniform in a regular-season game.
Sutter decided that his best career move would be to forego signing with Chicago and try his luck elsewhere.
In Sutter’s case, that elsewhere was in Japan. He signed with Iwakura Tomakomai of the Japan National League and for Sutter, it was the best career move imaginable.

Although the chances of a gambling scandal surfacing in hockey are probably much less than in basketball, the NHL is actively taking steps to further prevent the possibility of a Tim Donaghy situation from happening in its league.
The league has already sent a memo to the NHL Officials’ Association saying that it wants to meet to see what further steps might be needed to prevent an on-ice official from doing what Donaghy is alleged to have done, betting on his own sport’s games and passing information on to others who are involved in betting.